February 01, 2006

Carol Taylor On Editing An Anthology

The process of editing an anthology is a multi-faceted one. In addition to editing stories, depending on what each story needs and working with authors depending on what each author needs, you are also taking care of the schedule, the budget (my publisher pays me and I pay my writers), and the contracts (I have a contract with my publisher and my contributors have contracts with me). You also have to make sure that you get what you need from the writers on time for the first draft and for any revisions. Then after you've delivered the book to your publisher, you work on the production process. You have to vet all copy, review and correct your copyedited manuscript, and make sure the book looks exactly the way you want it to, which is far easier said than done.

An excerpt from Felicia Pride's interview of "Editor-as-Entrepreneur" Carol Taylor in BackList, "A Publishing and Literary Newsletter of African-American Interest."

Carol Taylor (no known relation) was one of my professors in the Publishing Certificate Program at the City College of New York. I also assisted her a bit (mostly clerical) on the second installment of the series, Brown Sugar 2: Great One Night Stands - A Collection of Erotic Black Fiction.

Posted by ronn at February 1, 2006 11:05 PM